India school UAE to kickstart Asia Cup title defence

India began their Asia Cup title defence with a bang by vanquishing UAE in Dubai. In a game that closed out under 20 overs in total, India pocketed a 9-wicket win after their bowlers set it up by torpedoing UAE for just 57.

With India opting for only spearhead Jasprit Bumrah as their frontline pacer, Hardik Pandya kicked off the proceedings with the ball and found out that Alishan Sharafu was good at picking length. He swivel-pulled Bumrah too before flat-batting Axar Patel over cover for a six. However, an inch-perfect yorker from Bumrah brough an end to his promising knock.

Muhammad Zohaib then had an ill-fated slog at Varun Chakaravarthy before Kuldeep broke the game open with a three-wicket over. The well-set Waseem was one of the victims, much to UAE’s chagrin. With the brawny Asif Khan’s exit UAE found themselves reeling at 52/6. They couldn’t improve their score much from here on as Dube and Kuldeep continued to have a field day, bowling UAE out for the second-lowest total in Asia Cup history.